An Urban Hippie Garden

Living in the city does not mean you can't have a garden even if you don't have a yard.  Getting pots and hanging baskets work well if you have a patio or a baloney.  Even those topsy turvies seem to work from just seeing them hanging off of people's porches.
We have decent sized yard for living in the city.  We have room for a small garden.
Here are a few pictures of what I have growing so far.
Pumpkins:





Beefsteak tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Cucumbers and lettuce (which look to be over taken)

Zucchini

Watermelon seedlings

Cilantro


I have red and hot peppers, stavia, lavender, lemon thyme, borage, and strawberries, too.  Pepper plants are slowing getting bigger and well the strawberries are only junebearing and pretty much done now.  You can grow peppers, herbs and strawberries in pots and hanging baskets if you have limited space.

I am no expert on gardening.  This was my first year ever setting mine up.  There are few things I would definitely do different.  I think I will do raise beds next year as weeding is a pain in the ass.  Not plant as much zucchini and cucumbers because well they get HUGE.  Also I think I will get a little green house set up to start my seedlings inside. 
A few things I wouldn't change: use compost and lots of it.  Get premium organic soil.  Yes, I think it makes a difference and organic fertilizers.  Use biodegradable seedling trays so your plants don't go into shock when you transplant them into the garden.

There are some veggies I want to try once it is mid-summer.  You can start cold crops inside and transplant into the garden late summer with plenty of time before the first frost.   I am going to do lettuce again, spinach and cabbage.  

The only thing I have ate from my garden is strawberries so far.  They were sweet and delicious.  Not very big, but I am told that next year they will do even better.  So I hope that is true!  I really can't wait to pick my first veggie!  It will be such a sweet reward for all the hard work going into it.

New blog...yadda, yadda, yadda

yes yet another blog...this is more to write down my thoughts.
well I hope this turns out to be a little different and fun to read.

I consider myself an urban hippie. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, near fields, cows and barns. I moved to the city and married a city slicker. Through living in Pittsburgh for 7 years I have fell in love with city living. I don't think I could ever go back to living in rural area. Though I do love escaping to places that are quiet and out of the way.

I guess I should introduce myself, I am Teresa. I am married to an awesome guy, Chris and we have 2 full of energy, never not moving, playing and rough housing children. We have 1 cat, whom well as taken it upon herself to be bitchy to us, but yet crave our attention. And one lovable, sweet, laid back beagle named, Hippie. I couldn't help myself with that name.
Me, I'm a work at home mom.... I sell cloth advocacy shirts and other hippie awareness shirts. I knit....constantly. I hoard......yarn..... mainly wool...lovely soft organic wool. ;) Happy Sheep makes for a happy knitter. ;)

We went about having a family nontraditional in the sense of what people believe in normal. We had Carson first before getting married. But to be honest this is coming more common and less taboo. We are open about Carson knowing we weren't married when he was born. He sees pictures of him in the wedding when he was 6 months old. He is very spirited and marches to his own beat. He is lovable, but constantly pushing boundaries. Can I just say I cannot wait for kindergarten this fall. ;) He was our adorable little hippie child. He had long curly hair, but since decided he wanted shorter hair.
Then came along Miss Boo aka Isabelle. She is a fireball of energy and delight. Boo-Boo as she like to be called, is burst of energy and love. She is my snuggler, loves to hug and kiss. She has cute little mannerisms about her. She is also just beauitful. She has long, curly red hair and attracts attention anywhere she goes. I feel, my hubby and I are going to have our hands full with trying to keep admirers away as she grows up.
We lived in an apartment for several years until we able to afford our house! Can I just say that having a landlord just sucks majorly especially if yours happens to be an ass. We had a real "winner" before we moved out. I am so glad to put that behind us.
With this being our first full summer in our home we decided to plant a veggie garden. Can I just say how super duper excited I am to have a garden! I can raise my own organic veggies! We are growing zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, a few heads of lettuce, peppers (omg the amount of peppers we have lol), hot peppers, strawberries (but they are pretty much out of steam now), pumpkins, herbs and trying my best to get watermelon going.
With our house we have a big grape vine and a white walnut tree. So harvest time is quite literally going to rock!
We try and be sustainable as possible. We cloth diapered our children (both are out of diapers now) and buy very few disposable products. If we do they are always recycled or we are able to compost them. Yes we compost and recycle as much as we can. My husband started riding his bike to work as trying to use less gas in our car. We line dry clothes, use a push mower that requires only human power, and try and reuse as much as possible.
We eat mainly certified and non-certified foods. We buy local as much as possible and have our own grocery bags.

Well this was a mouthful for sure. Basically this is to just document life and how we strive to be more simple with our actions.